The Darkness Within
by XxMoJo88xX
Summary: Karthas is a young and successful member of the thieves guild. More often than not, he is specifically requested to perform a job. What he doesn't know is his next job will shake the guild to its foundation. T for Violence and Language.


Karthas repositioned himself on a branch that crossed over the Gold Road. He was silent, focused, intent on what he knew should be only moments away. His keen ears could already hear the distant rumbling of wheels on stone - a sure sign that the trade cart was approaching rapidly. He pulled his bow off his shoulder and had an arrow knocked and ready. Finally the cart from Skingrad came around the bend. He pulled the arrow back, aiming at the cart driver, when a whistle from his left made him pause.

It was J'Rasha. Hiding in the undergrowth at the base of a nearby tree, he was pointing in the direction of the cart. Karthas returned his gaze to their prey only to see an Imperial Legionnaire following around the bend. Quickly, Karthas reached into a pouch and pulled out a small green vial of poison, coated an arrow, and had it set. He knew the Imperial Guards liked to hide behind their thick armor. Cowards. Fortunately, he also happened to know the weak spots of said armor.

"Farewell, Imperial swine," the Khajiit whispered as he loosed the arrow. It found its mark, penetrating the gap between the helmet and the cuirass and lodging deep in the guard's throat. Karthas grinned as the Imperial fell sideways off his horse and sputtered for air, trying desperately to call out a warning to the traveling merchant. Unfortunately for him, the cart's driver was oblivious to the danger he was heading into.

Karthas replaced the bow on his back and drew his dagger, balancing himself on the balls of his feet. The cart was only a few feet away now, its driver whistling merrily. The horses snorted almost constantly as they pulled the trade goods, and Karthas wasn't sure if it was due to the weight of the shipment, or the unbearable sound coming from the merchant's mouth. That would all be over soon.

As the cart passed beneath him, Karthas leapt nimbly behind the driver and buried his dagger deep in the back of his neck, killing him instantly. After unceremoniously kicking the driver out of the cart, Karthas took the reins and pulled the team to a stop.

"Well that was fairly easy," J'Rasha said as he came out of hiding.

"For you," Karthas said, not bothering to hide his irritation. "That's the third time this week you've stood there and watched."

"Well I think you did well enough for both of us, my friend, J'Rasha replied, jumping into the passenger seat of the cart. "Besides, you're so much better than me at this whole 'stealing' thing." He looked over his shoulder and pulled up the canopy, looking at what was in the cart. "Not a bad haul today. The fences will be pleased."

"Our Doyen won't be," Karthas replied. "Another blood debt to pay."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. This load will more than pay for it."  
"Next job, you're going to actually do something."

"Alright, alright," J'Rasha said with a wave of his paw. "Let's just get off the road before someone comes. Where are we supposed to take all this stuff?"

"Arathor is supposed to meet us at Wawnet Inn," Karthas replied.

"That annoying Bosmer? Couldn't they get us anyone else?"

"Arathor happens to be one of my friends," Karthas said, casting his passenger a threatening glare. He flicked the reins, and the cart began to head east towards the Imperial City.

"Perhaps you should find better friends," J'Rasha replied with a shrug.

"Perhaps I should find a better partner," Karthas returned. "Or better yet, perhaps I should work alone! I have to do all the work every time anyways."

"You know, you complain too much."

"You give me too much to complain about, you incompetent fool!" Karthas shouted, losing his patience for the first time in as long as he could remember.

"What was that?" he heard someone from behind them say. Looking over his shoulder, he saw two more Imperial Guards coming around the bend. "By the nine," one of them said as they came to Karthas's first victim, the arrow still sticking out of his throat. The two guards looked up and drew their swords, spurring their horses.

"Now you've done it," J'Rasha said, a slight quiver in his voice.

"Run!" Karthas said. He jumped out of the seat and bolted north into the forest, nimbly jumping over fallen branches and rocks. He could hear crashing close behind him and could only assume that J'Rasha wasn't as agile as himself. An occasional Khajiit grunt verified his assumption.

"Slow down, Karthas!" he heard J'Rasha say. Karthas looked over his shoulder and saw the Imperials still pursuing.

"Why don't you hurry up instead!?" He continued running through the underbrush, running blindly away from his pursuers. Ahead, a stone wall blocked their path - one of the old Imperial Forts long since forgotten by the Empire... most likely found by someone else.

"Come on!" Karthas shouted over his shoulder. In one jump, he found himself clinging to the top of the stone wall. He pulled himself up and turned to see that J'Rasha was gone. He quickly scanned the surrounding area, but the other Khajiit was nowhere to be found.

"Where did they go?" he heard one of the Imperials say. Quickly, he jumped down to the other side of the wall and went straight through the door and into the fort.

* * *

It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of his surroundings, but soon his keen night vision put into sharp relief the interior of the fort. Quickly, he could see that someone had recently been here - the dust on the floor was disturbed by several footprints, and the torch on the wall was extinguished but still warm to the touch. He walked slowly down the main hallway until he came to a large wooden door. He pushed it open slightly, listening for any movement. His ears flicked quickly - there was someone in the room.

"Grond wants us to clear out the collapsed hallway in the west wing," he heard someone say.

"Why doesn't Grond do it himself?" someone else replied.

"You know him... 'The Orc that gets paid the most does the least work,' he always says."

"Damn it, who died and made him our leader?"

"His father."

"And that was no accident, if you ask me," the second voice said. "I mean really, who falls on their own claymore?"

"Regardless of what you want to think, Grond is our leader," the first voice replied. "He could have you killed if he wanted. I'd say he's been a good leader so far, and I think since you are still alive, you should agree."

"Yeah, yeah... Well, let's go get this over with."

Karthas heard footsteps approaching the door and quickly looked for a place to hide. He looked up and saw a steel chandelier, its candles doused. With a quick jump, he pushed himself off the wall in midair and landed silently on the chandelier. Suddenly, the door to the fort flew open and daylight spilled inside. The two Imperial guards walked in, swords at the ready, just as the two Orcs entered the hallway.

"Well well... what have we here?" one of the Orcs said. Looking up, Karthas saw an opening that lead back outside.

"What the---" one of the guards said.

"It looks like someone is lost," the other Orc said, unfastening a mace from his belt.

"You don't want to do that," the Imperial said. Karthas could see him tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword.

"Oh, we do," the first orc said with a laugh. He lunged quickly, and Karthas took his chance. With the commotion of battle echoing through the dilapidated fort, he was able to jump to the opening and, bracing a leg on each side, was able to scale his way to the roof. With an exhausted sigh, he sprawled out on his back to catch his breath. The sound of the battle below continued to ring out, but soon all was silent.

"Took you long enough," he heard from above. He opened his eyes and saw J'Rasha standing over him, arms crossed. "I though I was going to have to go in there and save you."

"J'Rasha, if you were able to save yourself in a battle I would have a heart attack," Karthas said, getting to his feet.

"Well, we're both okay. And better yet, I don't think those Imperials won that little fight..."

"Let's get back to the cart," Karthas replied. He looked over the edge at the ground below.

"I'm glad I was able to get up here," J'Rasha said, peering over the edge himself. "It was easy. I was able to---AHHHHH!!!!" With a quick kick, Karthas had sent the other Khajiit over the edge. With a dull thud, J'Rasha landed.

"That felt good," Karthas said with a grin.

"You bastard!" J'Rasha shouted from the ground.

* * *

Chapter II coming later on! Please R&R!! First fic in a few years! Also... I keep having problems uploading... when I upload a .txt file, all my ' and " turn into grey and black boxes, and I have to go through and manually fix it... could get tedious when the chapters get longer. How do I fix this? Thanks! 


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